Poundstretcher fined £50,000 over fire safety breaches

Nov 10 2010
A HUDDERSFIELD firm has been fined more than £50,000 for serious safety breaches.
Poundstretcher was hauled before a court after safety officials’ uncovered major problems at a store in Castleford.
Only one out of six fire exits could be used in the shop, Leeds Crown Court was told.
The consequences of a fire at the Poundstretcher shop could have been “frankly appalling” said Judge Jonathan Rose. He said the store on Carlton Street would have been a “death trap”.
The firm, based at the Trident Business Park in Leeds Road, Deighton, was fined a total of £51,500 with £3,449 costs for seven breaches of the Fire Safety Order 2005.
The court was told Poundstretcher had failed in its duty to make its store safe, had failed to ensure that exits were clear of obstructions, had not given staff adequate fire training and had not reviewed its fire risk assessment regularly.
Judge Rose said he had taken into account the fact that the company had not made a profit since 2005. But this did not absolve them of the duty to meet fire safety regulations.
The firm has previously been fined for similar concerns at its Halifax and Wakefield stores.
Toni Wharton, prosecuting, said that combustible material was stored en route to one fire exit and trolleys blocked another.
Store manager Ian Burn, who had been in post only two months, had not been given fire training and discovered fire exits only by trial and error, said Mrs Wharton. He didn't even know one of them existed.
Tahir Khan, for Poundstretcher, said the cluster of safety offences in 2009 did not represent the company's normal behaviour.
The sentence was welcomed by West Yorkshire fire chiefs.
Asst Chief Fire Officer Craig McIntosh, director of Fire Safety, said: “The charges brought against Poundstretcher for breaches of fire safety legislation follow similar offences at other Poundstretcher locations.
“This is the third time a prosecution has been brought in West Yorkshire.
“The severity of the fines imposed by the court show that companies cannot continue to treat public and staff safety with contempt. The fines are intended to make Poundstretcher take its obligations seriously in the future”.